The present invention generally relates to the maneuvering of a guidewire in surgical procedures where an ‘endovascular’ technique is employed to access vasculature of a patient. Additional background information can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,634,475, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
A guidewire is typically a semi-rigid probe used as an initial access point for performing an endovascular procedure. The guidewire is twisted, bent, and otherwise maneuvered through an access vessel in order to position the guidewire tip at a location a surgeon would like to treat.
Convention guidewire manipulation methods often involve applying “torque” to the guidewire to aid its passage through tortuous and clogged vessels. This maneuver is performed by quickly and stiffly spinning the wire in one's fingertips. This torque helps curve or manipulate the guidewire through an obstruction or difficult passageway. This technique is also known as “helicoptering”, alluding to the spinning blades of a helicopter.
However, applying torque remains difficult since guidewires are extremely thin in diameter and typically have a low friction surface. Additionally, the gloves of a surgeon are often coated with blood or saline solution, further increasing the slickness of the guidewire. In this respect, helicoptering and similar maneuvers can be time consuming and inefficient. This inefficiency not only frustrates surgeons but also increases procedure times and therefore procedure costs.
Present guidewire designs attempt to address these problems by providing a torque handle consisting of a plastic tube that is about 0.5 inches in diameter and three inches long that slips over the proximal end of the guidewire and locks in place. The surgeon manipulates this torque device (Olcott Torque Device) to facilitate rotational motion of the guidewire and grip.
These current techniques and practices have several problems. First, the current torque devices require a surgeon to concentrate on spinning the guidewire with the attached torque device. The spinning technique greatly depends on the ability of the user and can be difficult to learn. Thus, these devices remain inefficient and often highly dependent on the operator skill. Since it is highly desirably to place a guidewire quickly and therefore finish a procedure quickly, a more consistently controllable guidewire placement device that overcomes these disadvantages is desired.